Bigfoot Encounters Bigfoot authority takes on Park disappearances By Joel Davis, joeld@thedailytimes.com |
A noted Bigfoot researcher has written a book about disappearances in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and across the U.S. David Paulides, a Los Gatos, California resident, came to Alcoa Tuesday to distribute copies of a new book to the media during a press conference that touted “disturbing new information” about the cases of Dennis Martin, Trenny Gibson and Thelma Pauline Melton, who all disappeared in the Smokies. The book, “Missing 411: Eastern United States,” summarizes information from newspaper accounts and other sources to offer recaps of unexplained disappearances. In the book, Paulides also raises questions about what he considers unusual elements of the stories. In a wide-ranging presentation that skipped from questioning the presence of Green Berets during the search for Martin in 1967 to the content of letters from psychics concerning the investigation, Paulides alluded to what he considered discrepancies. No allegations Afterward, though, the journalists present pressed Paulides to explain the point of his presentation. “I’m not making any allegations,” he said in reply. Paulides did refer to accounts of “wild men” living in the Smokies but never directly made any allegations concerning a connection between their possible existence and the disappearances. “If these wild men exist, then there is an illicit element going on that is not being acknowledged,” he said. The author of such books as “The Hoopa Project: Bigfoot Encounters in California” and “Tribal Bigfoot,” Paulides is a former police officer. Several people have vanished into the 800-square-mile Park without a trace. Perhaps the most famous of these was Martin, a 6-year-old boy, who disappeared in 1967 while on a family hike to Spence Field. Despite days of searching by nearly 1,000 people, there was never a trace found of the boy. Other unsolved disappearances: • Gibson, 16, disappeared Oct. 8, 1976, while she was on a Bearden High School field trip with other students. • Melton, 58, of Jacksonville, Fla., was hiking near Deep Creek Campground on Sept. 25, 1981, with two friends when she went missing. Comment by the book's author Dave Paulides: The "wildmen" that the reporter alluded to were reported by retired NPS ranger Dwight McCarter, something that was left out of this story. Another element left out of the story is that the NPS is refusing to release documents about the numbers of missing people inside their system, they state that they do not keep lists of the missing and have no idea how many are truly missing. Repeated FOIA requests have failed to obtain the lists. The Green Berets were called and responded to the Dennis Martin Disappearance. They didn't communicate with other searchers and there are no documents indicating who called them or what their mission was, they failed to respond to FOIA documents. This reporter is attempting to twist the facts in the presentation, very disturbing. McCarter stated that "Wild Men", meaning men who have lived in the forest and don't live by any laws had attacked a ranger in the past and was never captured. McCarter also acknowledged that Dennis Martin may have been abducted. The "Key" family was visiting the park and made an observation of a man hiding behind trees just after Martin disappeared, this was downhill and 2 hours after Dennis Martin vanished in a rarely visited area near Cades Cove. The news reported the observation at the time but not the fact that this man was screaming and carrying something over his shoulder, why wasn't this made public? This was confirmed by McCarter yet this key element isn't contained in this story. The FBI on scene made the determination that this sighting wasn't relevant, yet McCarter states that the timing and distance make is possible that this could've been Dennis-another item that the reporter didn't include in his article. Why would the FBI make the decision on this important event inside a National Park, McCarter was equally confused about why they didn't follow-up on this event. Dennis Martin, Polly Melton and Trenny Gibson all disappeared on or very near trails inside GSM Park, all within 12 years, all disappeared in very close proximity to family or friends and all were never found. After researching over 4000 missing articles and reports, this is a very unusual event. The Great Smoky Mountain National park is one of 28 clusters of missing people in rural areas of North America, another fact the reporter left out of the article. The reporter was more interested in trying to draw a parallel between my past books and the missing people then trying to tell the public the issues we were presenting. There is NOT one mention of bigfoot in the eastern version of "Missing 411", or in our presentation.....The attempt to make the "wild men" that McCarter spoke about something bigfoot related is an abomination and insult to Dwight McCarters 30 plus years in the park service. The important issues are the missing people and their families and the elements supporting that the National park Service is witholding information, FACT. It would almost appear that this reporter doesn't want you to hear the facts behind our presentation. Also in the comments section of the above article: 1. 51-year old Ranger James (Randy) Morgenson drowned after being swept over a waterfall while on a back country patrol in the Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, California. Other rangers began to search for him after he failed to check in with dispatch at the regular time following the first day of the patrol. Despite an exhaustive search, his remains were not found until July 2001, nearly five years after he went missing. The investigation indicated that he likely fell through a snow drift and broke his leg while crossing a creek, dying of associated injuries and hypothermia. His remains were washed down the creek and into a small cascade where they were hidden in the rocks for years. Ranger Morgenson had served with the agency for 27 years. He was survived by his wife. Read more: http://www.odmp.org/officer/16221-park-ranger-james-randall-randy-morgenson#ixzz21JxZ3ZRb 2. Rangers recover body of man swept over waterfall in Yosemite 3. Ranger plunges to death on Mount Rainier 4. The body of a climber in Grand Teton National Park who had apparently fallen to his death Thursday was found on Friday by park rangers after a daylong ground and air search of the central Teton peaks. Forest trail crew member Eric Tietze, 31, of Salt Lake City, and three climbing partners were attempting to complete a climb of the Cathedral Traverse Thursday when he separated from his group and moved ahead of them on the route, according to information released by the Grand Teton public affairs office. Tietze apparently fell about 500-600 feet to his death shortly after leaving his friends. A long-time Bridger-Teton National Forest employee, Tietze has worked for 10 seasons on a trail crew in the forest. HIKERS GONE MISSING 6. Missing Camper Found Dead In Joshua Tree National Park - Submitted by NPT Staff on June 7, 2012-- A 41-year-old Canadian visitor reported missing in Joshua Tree National Park early Wednesday was found dead in the park later that day. Park officials say the body of the Vancouver, British Columbia, man was found in an area of rock formations near Jumbo Rocks Campground. The name of the victim was being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The camper was reported to rangers as planning to arrive at the park on Saturday, June 2, with the intention of returning to friends in Santa Paula, California, on June 5. Initial reports indicated that the missing party was staying at Indian Cove Campground, but a search of the Indian Cove area by park rangers failed to locate either the missing person or his car. Rangers broadened the search to include all park campgrounds, picnic areas, and trailheads. The victim’s car was found at Jumbo Rocks Campground, but there was no sign of the missing party. A ground search was started in the afternoon and involved park rangers, volunteers of Joshua Tree Search-and-Rescue (JOSAR), and the Riverside County Sheriffs Department. The California Highway Patrol provided a helicopter to assist with the search. The victim was located at approximately 9:30 p.m. in an area of granite cliffs and boulder formations about three-quarters of a mile from the campground.Joshua Tree National Park rangers are assisting the Riverside County Sheriffs Department with the investigation of the fatality. 7. White Marsh man falls to death at state park 8. Chicagoan found dead at Grand Canyon October 23, 2008 9. Search may resume for missing woman at Dunes 10. Hiker found dead in State Park 11. Hiker killed in Delaware Water Gap may have fallen 100 feet 12. Man found dead inside houseboat near Lake Mead
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